beta-Adrenergic involvement in acquisition vs. extinction of a classically conditioned eye blink response in rabbits
beta-adrenergic involvement in classical conditioning and extinction was investigated. Five groups of rabbits (saline, 1, 3, 5 or 10 mg kg-1 of the beta-adrenergic antagonist propranolol) were trained with a tone conditioned stimulus (CS) paired with a corneal air puff unconditioned stimulus (US). Both 5 mg kg-1 and 10 mg kg-1 propranolol delayed acquisition of conditioned responses but all groups were able to learn the task to criterion. Consistent changes were not seen during extinction.
Gould
TJ
Institute for Behavioral Genetics, Box 447, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA